Former assemblyman calls amnesty a ‘bungle’

Former Assemblyman Arthur “Jerry” Kremer — now running a lobbying firm — issued a study picking apart a tax amnesty officials from the Department of Taxation and Finance have been conducting this year.

Legislators booked $250 million from the program during a mid-year deficit reduction program last December. The tax department has so-far collected less then $100 million. collected $55 million between January and March.

Kremer said the department “sabotaged” the program by being “heavy-handed” with would-be payers, coming down on them for other violations. He also said the program was not well-promoted.

“It was handled in a very ugly fashion,” he said, noting New York has collected $1.5 billion in earlier program since 1985. “They’ve been effective because they were well-advertised, they were customer friendly, and it just worked out well. This was a clear indication that a program which could have raised money that was desperately needed just fell flat on its face.”